Re: [wxperl-users] wxPerl Community project...

[Mark D. <mar...@zn...>]

Huub,

If you get this underway then certainly, I would be happy to contribute.

Like others, I'm not sure it will have the effect you hope for - but
that's just opinion at this point.

"Killer App" - I'm not so sure on this either. I tend to think 'Killer
Platform / Framework' and it seems to me that Eric's 'Web 3.0' just
about hits the nail on the head.

I would say we need a wxPerl IDE written in wxPerl that in itself should
demonstrate:

One way of separating out the GUI code from the logic code.
One approach to the POE problem.
A bunch of wizards for common interface elements.

This is non-trivial as, Perl being Perl, we'd probably spend an
inordinate amount of time arguing about whether building an IDE that by
its nature would be prescriptive about how the GUI code was structured
was a good idea at all, let alone ever agreeing on what that particular
structure should be. I call it an IDE rather than a 'Dialog Designer' as
I would regard it as necessary for an app of this type to impose a
structure on the GUI code and I'd regard that as a positive thing.

We need a bunch of 'data aware' controls and a common data interface
that fits with Erics 'Web 3.0' analogy - Prior list postings would
suggest that much work towards this has been done in some form or
another. Whether this would end up as a DBI::Web3 or a Web3::Recordset
type of thing I'm not sure at present. But Wx::DataGrid and Wx::DataCtrl
are a must.

We need a report designer GUI that makes it easier to produce formatted
printed output. Yep - I know CPAN's awash with possible solutions for
coding this - my point would be that we need a high level interface to
one of these solutions.

With those things in place, there's a chance of getting much wider usage
for wxPerl.

>From that point, throw PostgreSQL and its support for perl into the mix
together with Apache/Modperl and you have the complete ' .PerlWEB3'
cross platform framework.

It seems to me that the wxPerl C documentation is perfectly good as a
functional reference.

The real issue is the inordinate amount of time it takes someone to get
to their first working screen with maybe a functional menu or two. This
produces a perception that using wxPerl is difficult and time consuming
- which is the opposite of what any perl effort should be. I don't think
the answer is a bunch of documentation on how to achieve it. Working
code in an IDE/Designer would do the job perfectly.

My .NET colleagues may spend twice as long as I do getting their logic
to work. but they aren't spending their time trying to figure out the
correct way to exit a program or destroy a frame. This gives them the
perception that their environment is somehow more productive.

So count me in to contribute to any Wiki / Kwiki.

I'd be very interested in collaborating on any IDE/Designer or 'Web 3.0'
effort.

Regards

Mark